Notes from our travels

Stunning!!

Doubtless Bay was our next destination. The beaches here were stunning – I found myself saying “ooh, that’s a nice beach, we should go there” to pretty much every one that we drove past. And they were all deserted! You wouldn’t get a deserted beach on a sunny(ish) day in England!

My personal favourite was Matai Bay with its two twin coves. The water was so, so calm and inviting… but, alas, a bit too chilly to swim in. Maybe we’ll have to come back when it’s a bit warmer…

After realising that KeriKeri isn’t really on the sea, we drove back down to Paihai, another small town in the Bay of Islands. We then had to decide what we wanted to do there – did we want to go swimming with dolphins? Or go on a jetboat? How about New Zealand’s highest parasail? What about a day cruise on a sailboat? In the end we opted for the jetboat, being one of the cheaper options. We chose the Mack Attack since it was supposed to be the fastest of the jetboats up there, and went out to see the hole in the rock and a lighthouse. It was fun – just a shame that there weren’t any dolphins or seals around that day!

(more…)

We went to Kerikeri thinking that it was on the sea, turns out it isn’t (there was a stream through the campsite) but the town was quite pretty and we had a decent curry (in Kerikeri if you ask for a medium, you will get an INDIAN medium). The best part of the place was the campsite kitty and the ducks.

(more…)

Sure, why not decorate your public toilets with glass bottles, grass, and various different types of tiles?

(more…)